According to a possible embodiment, the modular labeling station may be one station of a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material. In this case the plant may comprise a beverage filling machine, which is often a rotary filling machine, with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine.
In case of a beverage bottling plant, after a filling process has been completed, the filled beverage bottles are transported or conveyed to a closing machine, which is often a rotary closing machine. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station.
The closing machine closes bottles by applying a closure, such as a screw-top cap or a bottle cork, to a corresponding bottle mouth. Closed bottles are then usually conveyed to labeling station for example by means of a corresponding conveyer arrangement. Bottles are then sorted and packaged for shipment out of the plant.
Beverage bottling plants may also comprise a rinsing arrangement or rinsing station. Downstream of the rinsing arrangement or rinsing station, in the direction of travel, rinsed bottles are then transported to the beverage filling machine.
A known modular labeling station is known in the form of a rotating labeling machine from German Patent No. 202 21 208 UI, in which a plurality of labeling units are arranged in a free-standing manner, i.e., standing with their own feet on a base, on the periphery of a rotor driven to rotate about a vertical machine axis. In order to attain the necessary alignment of the free-standing labeling units with reference to the machine frame for the proper application of the equipment elements or labels onto the bottles or containers, additional elements are provided on the periphery of the machine frame for establishing the position of the respective labeling unit relative to the machine frame.
A modular labeling station may be exchanged with no problem and without expending a great deal of time, in order to convert the machine from one container type or size to another container type or size, and/or from one equipment feature to another equipment feature, in particular also to perform calibration or adjustment tasks and/or repairs on the labeling station separately from the machine, and thus without interrupting production. However, one disadvantage of the known machine is comprised in that because of the free-standing arrangement of the labeling station on the periphery of the machine frame, height adjustment or alignment, inter alia, is required for each unit.
Another modular labeling station is known from EP-A-1820736 in which it comprises a centering and docking unit suitable to be detachably connected to a centering and docking unit of the stationary frame portion of the machine in order to support the labeling station in a load-transferring manner.
Still another modular labeling station is known from EP-B1-1493671 in which the labeling station is completely lifted from the floor when attached to the stationary frame of the machine.
An object of at least one possible embodiment of the present application is to provide modular labeling station retaining the advantage of detachable labeling station, to make it interchangeable, when needed, and permitting simplified docking and levelling of the stations to the machine.